Torrential rains continue this evening

Heavy rain continues to push through the eastern part of New England and cause problems on many roads. Flood advisories are in effect for much of eastern Massachusetts this evening due to the heavy rain. Route 9 in Framingham through Wellesley was covered with water in many places earlier this evening. The heavy rain will end in the next few hours, but showers can occur overnight. Certain small streams are also going to flood overnight. As of mid-evening, the heaviest rain was moving south and east of Boston. I often send out “tweets” about the current state of the weather and any major showers on radar. You can follow me on Twitter at @growingwisdom

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The weekend
Very heavy rain and strong to severe thunderstorms have been inching their way eastward all day. This evening, this area of rain is finally going to be moving into eastern Massachusetts and the metro Boston area. Some of the rain could be so heavy that water will pond on the roads and driving will become difficult. Any thunderstorms that do occur can become severe with strong winds, hail and dangerous lightning.
Winds above our area, all the way to cloud level, are moving very slowly. This fact matters because when the winds at around 10,000 feet, or cloud level, are not moving, the storms that form also won’t move very fast. If you have very heavy rain inside one of these storms and these storms remains nearly stationary, flash flooding, especially on the roads can result. Therefore, areas west of Route 495 have already seen thunderstorms this afternoon that have caused street flooding. These problems are expanding eastward this evening. You can see the latest map showing the winds at about 10,000 feet below. This is called a 700 millibar map, because when you get up that high, the pressure is about 700 millibars. As an aside, the pressure at the ground is around 1013 millibars.
Taking all of this into account, rain will overspread eastern areas this evening and continue on and off through at least midnight. Temperatures remain in the lower and middle 70s but will fall into the 60s during the rain. Overnight it will be partly cloudy after any showers end. Sunday will see a lot of clouds and again the chance for a few showers. Since there will be more clouds, I expect temperatures to stay in the 70s. If you can dodge the rain, you might be able to get some outside time in during parts of the day. Next Week
I know that losing parts of a weekend in July to weather isn’t preferable, but we have had some amazing weekends of weather for much of the spring and summer. This is all little consolation I am sure if this upcoming weekend is part of your vacation on the beach. Next week looks generally nice to start with a chance of afternoon showers around Tuesday through the end of the week. This doesn’t mean if you are on vacation next week there are not any beach days. It does mean that the weather won’t be bright and clear however all day, every day. Temperatures will be in the 80s with humidity growing as the week progresses. Typical early August weather.Gardening tip of the week
All the moisture in the air through the weekend will create the perfect environment for plant fungus and other diseases. You should watch your garden carefully and I recommend spraying with a fungicide, organic or otherwise when it does dry out. This is especially true for tomatoes.
We have a new video for you today on a special coreopsis I planted. This is a great perennial that will come back each year and get wider and more floreforous each year. I like this video because it gives you a good understanding of how to plant almost anything. Check it out.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this blog or any others. Please follow me on Twitter at @growingwisdom and check out my latest videos at GrowingWisdom.com